A Quiet Day
by BeardedBardiche
Summary: After a training session in the mountains, Sumi is taking in the peaceful scenery around her, though she bears an obvious weight on her shoulder.


A quiet day.

Far away from the hustle of the city, Washio Sumi sat in silence. The tips of her hair swayed slightly in the breeze passing through the veranda. The mountain air was cool, even in the middle of the day. It was a refreshing feeling after the rigor of the marining training exercises. Sumi took in the scenery in front of her. A small garden lay just beyond the veranda, and beyond that, the mountain forest. Beside her, a cup filled with tea made from the herbs she found nearby. Clothed in a yukata, she held her body in a perfect, motionless seiza. She was the perfect image of a Japanese woman.

"Hey, don't… dinner… toys…"

… Or she would be, if a certain girl wasn't leaned up against her shoulder and sleeping without a care in the world.

Sumi sighed and cast a wanting glance at the tea by her side. It was supposed to be for the three of them, but Sonoko had disappeared off somewhere. She couldn't lean over to pick it up – or move at all, really – without risking disturbing Gin. That was the predicament she had been in for the past hour, and no solution had come to mind. So now the tea was cold _and_ out of reach.

She had really wanted to try that tea with everyone.

Come to think of it, though, where _had_ Sonoko gone off to? Sumi started to get a little worried. Sonoko had stayed behind in the bath when she and Gin got out together. She couldn't still be in the bath, could she? Sumi looked down at Gin's sleeping face. Should she go find her? She didn't want to wake Gin, but—

"Ooh~. They really are numb."

Sumi nearly jumped. Nearly. Through some combination of not wanting to wake her sleeping friend, growing more accustomed to Sonoko's antics, and – what she considered the most important factor – her strength as a model woman, she kept herself from moving in the slightest. Not that she wasn't afflicted with a racing, pounding heart and a sudden irritation.

"Sonocchi!" she whispered. "Where have you been?" She tried to turn her head to the see the girl that somehow appeared behind her.

"Hey, Wasshi~!" Sonoko replied. She pulled back from looking down at Sumi's feet and leaned over so Sumi could see her more clearly. "Hm…" She put a finger to her cheek and took on a thoughtful expression. "I've been observing material for my stories!" she finally said, looking directly into Sumi's eyes.

Sumi saw the glimmer in her eyes and recoiled a little. Her gaze felt like it was piecing together some imaginary circumstance for her current predicament that had no basis in reality _whatsoever_. Sonoko's imagination was a wonderous and terrifying thing all at once. Before she could respond, though, Sonoko was already picking up the cup of tea at her side and taking a sip.

"Ah, this is really good, Wasshi~!"

"Sonocchi…" Sumi motioned slightly with her head, quietly pleading with her to keep her ever-enthusiastic voice down. It was hard keeping her body still; sitting in the quiet, calm atmosphere earlier, she could ignore the urge to shift around, to relieve the pressure on her legs. It was what a proper woman should do. But Sonoko had a way of dragging her into the girl's own pace so quickly.

Sonoko put down the teacup and shuffled over in front of Sumi. "It's fine, it's fine! Mino-san won't wake up so easily." Sonoko reassured Sumi, though to her relief, she spoke in a whisper. "She looks happy."

"She was just mumbling about something a minute ago." Sumi looked down at Gin. The girl's lips were curled up in the tiniest of smiles. "I guess she's having a nice dream." A calm set into Sumi's body. It really was a peaceful day. She looked back up, wondering if Sonoko was feeling the same. Sonoko held a gentle smile of her own, but for some reason, Sumi felt like there was something behind that smile, that her eyes saw something she couldn't.

"Hm~... Maybe so," was all Sonoko said. Deep in that expression was something she couldn't make out, but Sumi could at least tell Sonoko was happy, whatever the reason was.

"So," Sonoko said after a moment. She put her hands together like she was ready to hear some wonderful tale. "How did this happen?"

"Well, I wanted to teach Gin some proper womanly mannerisms. These yukata the Taisha provided for us are really nice, so I thought it was a good opportunity. Gin seemed interested. But she dozed off the moment she sat down." Sumi's expression turned mildly annoyed. "It isn't proper to use another person's shoulder as a pillow in such a situation. She should at least sleep upright!"

Sonoko giggled. "Wasshi-sensei is so strict."

"W-well, I'm just being a good teacher." Sumi's cheeks flushed slightly. "She wants to be a proper bride, after all…" Her words trailed off. She wasn't quite sure what else to say to Sonoko's slightest teasing.

"If Wasshi was leaning back when Mino-san fell asleep, she would have gotten an even better Wasshi pillow~!" Sonoko's eyes drifted downward.

As the slow realization of what Sonoko was referring to passed through her mind, Sumi's whole face flushed a deeper red. She wanted to yell at Sonoko, she really did, but only terribly embarrassing noises managed to escape. And Sonoko, her smile only widened in enjoyment of the scene.

"Ah, now that I think about it, I'm really tired from this morning's training too. I think I'll be like Mino-san and take a nap." Without hesitation, Sonoko slipped over to Sumi's side and stretched out over the wooden floor.

"S-S-Sonocchi?" Taken by surprise, Sumi couldn't stop Sonoko from laying her head onto her defenseless lap. The girl nuzzled into the smooth fabric covering her thighs and let out a happy yawn.

"Goodnight, Wasshi~…" Lightly gripping Sumi's yukata in her hand, Sonoko's eyes closed, and immediately her breathing slipped into the deep breaths of contented sleep.

Sumi, motionless, gazed down, blinking in confusion. How this girl managed to do these things so effortlessly, with no hesitation, she might never know. But now she truly was stuck. For how long? Sonoko might sleep for hours if she let her. She'd been sitting in this position for an hour already, and…

Sumi, careful to not disturb both the occupants of her personal space, reached around to her backside and squeezed the bottom of her foot. At least, it felt like her foot and was in the right position to be her foot. It was completely numb. No surprise there. She'd been feeling the tingling in her legs for some time. She sighed and turned her attention to the scenery around her once again.

The gentle afternoon breeze once again passed across Sumi's cheeks, still tinged red. The flowers in the garden fluttered, the tree branches in the distance swayed just a bit. The whispers of the breeze passing through it all, it was as if the mountain itself was saying something just beyond her ability to hear. And with her, the steady breathing of her dearest friends filled the silences in between.

A quiet day.

Sumi took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and let the tension in her body dissipate into the air around her. A renewed resolve flowed into her body and mind. The image of being a proper woman slipped away from her consciousness. She tenderly stroked Sonoko's cheek. The numbness in her legs, the urge to relieve the pressure, they didn't matter. She wanted to preserve this peaceful time they had. In this tiny way, right now, they needed her support. She would remain like this until her friends woke, however long it took, for that reason alone.

She could handle not being able to use her legs for a little while later, for the sake of her friends.


End file.
